MORE GRASSROOTS LABOUR......

There is an excellent post here on why Labour is in trouble - and why grassroots members should not get the blame. Welcome to my blogroll, Tim Cheetham, who is a councillor in Barnsley

http://cllrtim.blogspot.com/2009/07/5-things-i-hate-about-you.html

LabourList - the missing links......

It's groundhog day again as Alan Milburn returns to the fold which means of course he is set to be another contributor to the new New Labour blog offering which is LabourListThis is allegedly the creme de la creme of Labour bloggers but of course its roll-call is overwhelmingly neo-liberal.

I probably would not have a problem with that - hardly a surprise - if it didn't claim to be an exciting new venture which will engage all Labour-supporting bloggers "at every level." Fact is that it another top-down initiative minus dissent and real debate which seems both unnecessary and a little dull.

We can already read Luke Akehurst's denouncements of the left on his blog - LabourHome is a far more eclectic mix of views from across the whole political spectrum. So is Liberal Conspiracy. Conclusion? I really don't see the point. And can anyone tell me what happened to the equally trumpeted Alan Milburn/ Charles Clarke initiaitve 20/20 Vision? I predict the same fate for this blog which seems to be living in a parallel universe in which it is 1997 .Its self-congratulatory tone is also regrettable.

GRASSROOTS BRANCH OUT WITH NEW BLOG

Pleased to report that the Grassroots Alliance - the left-of-centre reps on the NEC and their supporters - has a new blog which rather amusingly has sent the right-wing blogger Luke Akehurst into nuclear ranting mode - denouncing the rather moderate Peter Kenyon as a lefty. As any fule no, Peter 's major concern is improving Party democracy and building membership - he has worked tirelessly for years to that end. Which is why he got a place on the NEC.